From Pharmacist to 8-project capacity: This designer's secret

04 Oct 2025
From pharmacist to full-capacity designer, read how Alessandra Smith scaled from 2 to 8 projects by replacing spreadsheet chaos with a 6-stage workflow powered by Programa.
When Alessandra Smith transitioned from pharmacy to interior design, she never imagined spreadsheets would become her biggest creative obstacle. Like many talented designers, she possessed exceptional aesthetic vision but quickly discovered that managing projects via scattered emails and endless spreadsheets was consuming the creative hours that drew her to design.
 

The Administrative Avalanche

Alessandra's early challenges mirror those faced by countless solo practitioners.

 

"I was still getting my feet around how to run a business"

The reality of tracking product specifications across multiple spreadsheets, losing hours to manual data entry, and managing client approval delays through email chains was strangling her creative capacity and limiting her practice to just 2-3 concurrent projects.

The inflection point came during a heritage project demanding meticulous attention to period details. Each specification required careful documentation, supplier coordination, and client approval--yet the fragmented workflow was creating bottlenecks.

"I definitely felt like I needed some sort of solution that would let me dedicate more time to marketing."

 

The 6 stage systemic solution

Rather than accepting administrative chaos as inevitable, Alessandra implemented Programa and developed a comprehensive 6-stage methodology that transformed her workflow and enabled unprecedented scaling. Her approach encompasses everything from initial client consultation through final project photography, with each stage building upon the previous to create seamless progression.

Her framework divides into distinct phases:

  1. Initial Consultation for client briefing and fee proposal
  2. Briefing, Concept & Schematic for research and budget forecasting
  3. Trade Day for contractor coordination
  4. Design Development for final specifications
  5. Procurement for order management
  6. Design Management & Styling for project completion

 

Technology as creative enabler

The transformation accelerated when Alessandra discovered workflow tools that integrated seamlessly with her systematic approach.

 

"When I saw how effectively the web clipping tool could take information from suppliers' websites, I was immediately sold,"

The Web Clipper and Add from URL tools in Programa have eliminated the manual typing that was consuming her creative hours, allowing her to capture product specifications directly from supplier sites into comprehensive project Schedules.

The Kazoo House project exemplifies this integration beautifully. For a 1920s heritage home requiring careful period detail preservation, Alessandra used centralized scheduling to track custom joinery dimensions, lighting lead time, and client-approved upholstery options. When presenting four fabric choices for a sofa, her client dashboard enabled direct approval with supplier spec links, eliminating email delays that traditionally plague selection processes.

 

The results speak volumes

The new process resulted in remarkable scalability improvements. Alessandra now manages eight concurrent projects while maintaining the precision her heritage-focused designs demand. Client approvals accelerated by 50% through streamlined dashboard workflows, while her reliance on spreadsheets decreased by 80% as centralized project management replaced fragmented tools.

"When clients see how organized I am, they trust me with bigger projects"

This professional confidence creates a virtuous cycle--systemic workflows enable higher capacity, which demonstrates reliability to clients, which attracts larger, more complex projects that further validate the systematic approach.

"Programa lets me focus on design, not data entry"

 

Beyond individual success

Alessandra's experience demonstrates that administrative chaos isn't an inevitable cost of creative practice but rather a solvable challenge that yields to systematic thinking and appropriate technology integration. The 6-stage framework provides a replicable model that other designers can adapt to their specific practice requirements.

The timeline visualization in Programa's Project Management particularly benefits solo practitioners and small studios.

 

"As a solo designer, it's so important to know what my pipeline looks like"

This visibility enables proactive business development while preventing the overcommitment that compromises project quality.

Your creative hours await

Alessandra's journey with Programa proves that systemic workflows unlock creative potential rather than constraining it. Her 6-stage methodology transforms administrative overwhelm into professional confidence, enabling designers to focus on what truly matters: bringing exceptional vision to life.

Transform your practice from scattered spreadsheets to systematic excellence. Your creative vision deserves an operational foundation that empowers rather than constrains it.

Ready to implement this systematic approach? Download her complete 6-Stage Design Process Guide and discover how systematic workflows can transform your practice using Programa.